The Oregon men’s basketball program received a commitment from 6-foot-4 guard Eddy Ionescu Monday afternoon.
Ionescu, a Walnut Creek, California native, will join the 2016 class as a walk-on next summer in Eugene. The coaching staff offered him a walk-on spot on the roster in August, and he called Oregon’s Director of Operations to deliver his decision on Monday.
“The team is great,” Ionescu said. “I love Coach [Dana] Altman. I think he’s a great coach and all the supporting staff… I feel pretty familiar with all of them. I love the chemistry and they’re all very family-like.”
Proud to announce that I will be attending the University of Oregon to play basketball #GoDucks 🐥🏀
— Eddy Ionescu (@bballeddy_4) October 19, 2015
Ionescu will work his way toward a three-year scholarship “if everything goes well.” He turned down scholarship offers from Hawaii-Pacific, Chico State and other small schools in the Northern California area.
Ionescu helped the Miramonte Matadors to a 14-14 finish and trip to the NCS playoffs last year. Miramonte doesn’t keep close tabs on stats, but he averaged about 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game last year, he said.
He plans to study Criminal Justice and Sports Psychology at University of Oregon.
While in Eugene on Oct. 9-11, he watched the men’s basketball team’s practices and activities.
“I didn’t really feel a difference from being the No. 1 player in the country or a walk-on,” Ionescu said. “All the coaches treated me the same as their recruits. I love all the coaching staff.”
His decision could potentially affect his twin sister’s college decision. Sabrina Ionescu is ranked No. 4 nationally by espnW and has narrowed her options to California, Oregon, Oregon State and Texas.
“We would like to stay together,” Eddy said. “We’ve been together since we were small, but all in all, it’s her decision where she wants to go. I’m supportive; I think all of her schools are still in the picture. We’ve definitely talked about it.
Eddy Ionescu said women’s basketball assistant coach Mark Campbell “really helped me out with getting connected” to the men’s program.
Ionescu is the fourth member of Altman’s 2016 class. Other Oregon commits include: M.J. Cage, Payton Pritchard and Keith Smith.
“I’m still in shock,” Eddy said. “I’m just so happy. I can’t put it into words. My dream, as a kid, was playing Div. I basketball. All the hard work has paid off.”
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne